AROUND THE WORLD.

Final Kursk ruling blames leaking fuel

July 27, 2002|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA — Leaking torpedo propellant caused the explosion that sank the Kursk nuclear submarine nearly two years ago, killing its 118-man crew in what Russia's top prosecutor on Friday called a technical malfunction for which no one was to blame.

Closing the books on one of Russia's worst post-Soviet disasters, Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov also defended the Kremlin's handling of the rescue efforts.

Ustinov said all the sailors aboard died within eight hours after the Kursk sank in the Barents Sea on Aug. 12, 2000--long before any help could arrive.

He spoke after reporting his verdict to President Vladimir Putin, saying the accident had been triggered by a leak of highly unstable hydrogen peroxide that exploded after contact with kerosene and the metal body of the torpedo.